Video to Google. Ray Lewis Stanford NIT. Joe Hook

Transcription

1 Westfield High School Football Newsletter April 8, 2012 The Westfield Easy Button What happens when you hit the easy button? Nothing. Still plenty of people take the easiest path in class, in homework, in practice, in the weight room, in their other sports, and in their social life. Keep pressing the easy button and you won t get very far. Whether you like it or not, there is an easy way and a character way in everything you do. You have a choice. Make a wise one. Get in the habit of taking the character way in everything you do. High School Recruiting I sent out a letter to the guys on our roster about recruiting players from within WHS for our football program. I will attach that letter. We have the names of about guys in school who currently do not play a fall sport. All of those guys were sent a letter urging them to sign up, a summer calendar, some of the motivational pieces we have shared, and our football handbook. Keep urging these guys to play. Remember, they will fear the hard work, fear the time commitment, and fear having some of their flaws revealed. Keep reminding them that you handled it so can they too can handle it. Keep reminding them how much that effort pays off. Nothing beats Friday nights under the lights. Nothing beats the bonds of brotherhood developed through football. No sport teaches you more about character and mental toughness than football. Video to Google Ray Lewis Stanford NIT Joe Hook Joe Hook sent me a message the other day. Most of you know Joe is a scholarship student-athlete at the University of Maine. I asked him if I could share what he wrote because I thought some of you might benefit from what he said: "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood." -Otto Von Bismarck- I was taking a history exam last week and there was a 50 point essay question on it in which I had to write the meaning of this quote to the German unification and then relate it to the modern day world and I did that. But in the back of my mind I kinda wanted to go off on a tangent about how this is a very inspirational quote to me as a football player because you can sit there and talk all day about how you re going to become a better player whether it is your technique or how you run your routes but the only way to do that is to constantly rep the things you need to get better at. You can talk all day and tell yourself how it's going to get better but the only way it will is if you put the time in to make it that way for yourself. I'm just glad that i found this quote because it taught me a lot because when it really comes down to it on the field you can give all the "rah rah" pump up speeches you want but the only way you can know in the back of your head that everything is going to go the way you want it to is by logging the long hard hours in the weight room, conditioning and by doing everything you possibly can to make it that way. I used to not understand what you meant by how history is kinda related to football I mean I understood the warfare aspect of it but I didn't realize how when it came to character and being mentally tough it was pretty much on the same wavelength. I wish I knew this quote and understood it

2 when I was in high school playing for you cause there was a lot of times that I needed that extra kick in the ass to get going. There was too many times that I took a rep off in the weight room, in practice, or in a game cause I was feeling sorry for myself. I like to think of myself as a fairly successful person and I believe I'm on a better track now than I was last spring. I just wanted to thank you for letting me be around when I was home and help out with team it really meant a lot to me. Even though my football knowledge has come a long way I feel like I learned a lot more about the mental aspect of the game from just being around and hearing you talk to the team. I didn't realize it before but it definitely was the greatest thing for me to be doing while I was home and it helped me mentally finding out that I was still in love with the game and it made me realize that I had to do everything that I possibly could to play again. Thanks for everything coach David Boardman I also heard from another former Bomber great, David Boardman who is a scholarship studentathlete at St. Anselm s College. I wanted to share what he said because I want you to understand that if you make the effort to learn what we try to teach you it truly does pay dividends later on. Via Twitter David I thank my old hs for the character and toughness I have today. Love the offseason grind. Get better everyday! Quotable (Because you think I make these things up ) Success is not counted by how high you have climbed but by how many people you brought with you. - Wil Rose You don't always get what you wish for, you get what you work for. Get out there and HUSTLE! - Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal. -Thomas Jefferson You won't get people's permission to be great - you will only get their approval to be like them. -Chris Brady My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me. - Jim Valvano The time to repair a roof is when the sun is shining." - John F. Kennedy The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. - Chinese proverb Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy. -Mike Ditka You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. -Aristotle Success isn't something that just happens - success is learned, success is practiced and then it is shared. -Sparky Anderson Discipline is the ingredient for accomplishing objectives. Success is a series of disciplined practice and effort. -Dakota Meyer Desire is the starting point of all achievement." - Napoleon Hill The only real failure is when you don't learn from your mistakes, and you keep repeating them. -Tim Storm The biggest problem in the world could have been solved when it was small." -Lao Tzu You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life." - Les Brown Most people fail in life because they major in minor things."- Anthony Robbins Talent wins games, but teamwork & intelligence win championships -Michael Jordan If you don't practice you don't deserve to win. -Andre Agassi Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. - Elain Maxwell Push through the pain, and conquer the obstacles. Regardless of what you think today, it wont matter 5 years from now. SO DON T BE AFRAID! -

3 Teachers open the door but you must walk through it yourself. - Chinese Proverb Adversity creates progress, we need it in our lives to move forward and create change. - Dakota Meyer In any given moment the answer to your problem is staring you in the face - if only you can see it. - Heather Jansch The price of success is sacrifice. Sacrificing your time & effort for a worthy cause is an investment. Pay the price! - Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly. -Shaquille O'Neal Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records. - William Arthur Ward Don't get mad when someone else starts to appreciate the opportunity you took for granted. What you won't do, someone else will. - No struggle, no progress. - In everything we do, our own thoughts can help us succeed, or they can help us fail. Maintain a positive attitude." - Catherine Pulsifer We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems. - Margaret Mead Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't. -Jerry Rice Leaders don't worry about younger guys 'paying their dues.' They throw arm around their shoulder n show them how to do things the right way. -Cory Stevens We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - C. Malesherbez Act the part and you will become the part. William James Success is not something you pursue. Success is something you attract by the person you become. -Jim Rohn When we have nothing to worry about we are not doing much, & not doing much may supply us with plenty of future worries. - Chinese Proverb If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it's moving you away from your goals. Brian Tracy A tree falls in the direction that it leans. Be careful witch way you lean. -Lorax Teams that truly have the best shot at reaching their goals are the ones where 100% of the group is 100% in! No doubt; no hesitation--all IN! -Kevin Eastman There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do. -Derek Jeter If you don't risk anything, you risk even more. -Erica Jong Use a mirror in difficult times. You will see both cause and resolution." - Deng Ming-Dao The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. - Confucius Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to produce uncommon results. - "Remember that guy that gave up? Well neither does anyone else."- "First say to yourself what u want to be, then do what you have to do. "-Dakota Meyer Winners don't wait for chances, they take them. - The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life. - Plato You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. - Rabindranath Tagore Don t always scrape & search for compliments. Criticism is what builds character & strength!"- Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself! - William Faulkner Don't cheat the world of your contribution. Give it what you've got. -Steven Pressfield (Don't cheat your teammates of your contribution. Give them the best of what you have!) Idleness is the mother of all vices. -Russian Proverb Those who overcome others have strength. Those who overcome themselves are powerful." -Lao Tzu

4 The sage does not collect precious things. He does not hold on to ideas. He brings men back to what they have lost." - Lao Tzu The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it. -Wayne Gretzky Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of being. -John Wooden When it seems impossible & nothing is going to work, you're usually just a few millimeters away from success. - Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. -Oprah When we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen. -Henry David Thoreau Who is not satisfied with himself will grow; who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things. -Chinese Proverb If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning is not very exciting. -Dick Vermeil I'll go anywhere as long as it's forward." - David Livingstone He who knows most grieves most for wasted time." - Dante The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. Ernest Hemingway What will you do with your pain? - Mark Merrill You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. -Michael Jordan "If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade" - Tom Peters The Six W's: Work will win when wishing won't. -Todd Blackledge Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. -John Wooden I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, & that is that I know nothing. -Socrates Use a mirror in difficult times. You will see both cause and resolution." - Deng Ming-Dao For as the eyes of bats are to the blaze of day, so is the reason in our soul to the things which are by nature most evident of all. - Aristotle "The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune." - Plutarch Everything looks impossible for the people who never try anything. - Jean-Louis Etienne A year from now you may wish you had started today." - Karen Lamb No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. - William Blake Pay attention! Don't just stagger through the day." - Jim Rohn Don't join an easy crowd. You won't grow. Go where the expectations and demands to achieve are high. - Jim Rohn Courage isn't the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else is more important than fear. -Ambrose Redmoon Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential" - Winston Churchill Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. - Dr. Seuss There is no glory in practice, but without practice, there is no glory. - There is no greater leadership challenge than parenting." - Jim Rohn A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak. -Michael Garrett Marino There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment. Norman Vincent Peale A wise man turns chance into good fortune. Thomas Fuller The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment. -Elbert Hubbard Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. - "Everything has changed, except our way of thinking." - Albert Einstein 3 methods to learn wisdom: 1 reflection, which is noblest; 2 imitation, which is easiest; & 3 experience, which is bitterest. - Confucius

5 "We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey." - Kenji Miyazawa Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average." - Jim Rohn If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over? -John Wooden "Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity." - Louis Pasteur Every exit is an entry somewhere else. -Tom Stoppard Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win. -Bobby Knight It's not what you do once in a while, it's what you do day in and day out that makes the difference."- My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the keys to my destiny. -Elain Maxwell "Success is achieved and maintained by those who try and keep trying." - W. Clement Stone Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. - Dr. Seuss We design our lives through the power of choices. Richard Bach Be as you wish to seem. - Socrates The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook. -William James The art of being wise is knowing what not to overlook. -William James Moore To become learned, each day add something. To become enlightened, each day drop something." -Lao Tzu To play it safe is not to play. - Robert Altman Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." -Keri Russell The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders. -Vince Lombardi True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, & the world around us. - Socrates A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her. -David Brinkley A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top. - The impossible only becomes possible when someone wants it bad enough. - Uknown Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success. - Knowing what you DON T want is 80% of the battle of getting what you DO want in life. -Unkown "Education must precede motivation." - Jim Rohn If you can, fly. But if you can t fly, run. If you can t run, walk. If you can t walk, crawl. No matter how you do it, move forward. - (If you can t crawl.roll) By seeing the seed of failure in every success, we remain humble. By seeing the seed of success in every failure we remain hopeful."- The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. - Moliere An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he's in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots." -Charles F. Kettering Before you give up, think of the reason why you held on so long. - I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more of it I have. - Thomas Jefferson If you boast, you will have no merit. If you promote yourself, you will have no success." - Lao Tzu Don't let small minds convince you that your dreams are too big. - The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered there is opportunity for growth. - One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. -Arthur Ashe Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there! - Dj run Standing in the inspiring vision of my future, I boldly take every step - large and small - with courage and intent. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

6 Don t say you don t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hrs per day that were given to the greatest contributors in our world. -Ian connole Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. -John Wooden "Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility."- Elizabeth Cady Stanton Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. Especially when that time will pass you by anyway. - People who try hard to do the right thing always seem mad. - Stephen King There's none so deaf as those who will not hear. -English Proverb "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw You will never be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of your life. - Dr. James G. Bikey Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential. - Winston Churchill We are what we repeatedly do. -Aristotle Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you. -Eddie Robinson a wise man learns by the mistakes of others, a fool by his own. - Latin proverb There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not trying. - Francis Bacon You won't reach high if you won't push on. -Chris Brady Many times success is nothing more than hanging on long enough for it to show up. -Chris Brady If you don't practice you don't deserve to win. -Andre Agassi The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential. Are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. -Confucius Every game is an opportunity to measure yourself against your own potential. -Bud Wilkinson No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave." - Calvin If you are determined enough & willing to pay the price, you can get it done. -Mike Ditka "What you get by achieving your goals is as important as what you become by achieving your goals." - Henry David Thoreau Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are. -Bernice J. Reagon Character is that which reveals purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids. -Aristotle Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn t do than by the ones you did do. - Mark Twain "I want to be one of those people that has no regrets after the season & I want to become the best QB that I can be" Denard Robinson How do you think? How winning football players think.. Is what I m doing or about to do going to make me a better football player? How winning people think.. Is what I m doing or about to do going to make me a better person? Spring Weight Room Hours Coach Coe & Coach Daley will open the weight room Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2:15-3:15. If you are not playing a spring sport you should be there! Character gets you to do the work, Mental Toughness keeps you working!

7 A Good Teammate A good teammate is pushing himself so you can see how much you can push yourself. A bad teammate only thinks about himself and his own struggle. A good teammate sucks up as much hurt as he can, so his teammates can benefit from his presence. A bad teammate can't get past the pain because he doesn't care about anyone other than him. A good teammate shows he appreciates your efforts by giving his very best effort. A bad teammate is trying to get by with as little effort as possible. A good teammate watches your repetition, and coaches you while your in line waiting for your next rep. A bad teammate is only hoping he won't have many more reps left before the drill ends. A good teammate is not as concerned about you messing up as much as he is concerned with your fixing the problem. A bad teammate can't get past your mistake. A good teammate isn't afraid of doing more than his share. A bad teammate spends a lot of time worrying about what his share is. A good teammate is there. A bad teammate is somewhere else. A good teammate let's you know he appreciates your efforts. A bad teammate is focused only on his own effort. A good teammate gives you his best when you face him in a drill. A bad teammate tries to get you to agree to not go too hard. A good teammate has good character because he works on it. A bad teammate has little character because he ignores it. A good teammate is mentally tough. A bad teammate seeks comfort, ease, and convenience. A good teammate can be counted on in any situation. A bad teammate can be counted on only when things are easy. A good teammate looks for ways to win. A bad teammate looks for ways to avoid the work it takes to win. Football is a game that rewards delayed gratification. Easy now, difficult later. Difficult now, easy later.

8 The Way to Win in Road Signs Character & Mental Toughness are the only way to consistently win. Stop and think about what you want to accomplish. You will certainly encounter some bumps on the way. Get out of the slow lane and merge with the fast lane. Step on the gas and start making progress. Don t quit and go back! Figure out which direction you want to go to reach your goals. Once you get up to speed keep moving. But you gotta keep the pace up Don t head in a direction that is not going to lead you where you want to go. You can keep looking for shortcuts, but they will result in a Avoid people and activities that will get in the way of what you want to accomplish. Sometimes things will get in the way and you will lose momentum, but keep making progress to where you want to go. If you do the work, you will get where you want to go! Remember It s character and mental toughness that get you to do the work and keep you doing the work. If we develop those two areas as people, as a team, as a community, then we will be successful. So start heading in the right direction Don t get sidetracked and stuck, remember where you want to go and blow right past distractions. If we don t develop our character and mental toughness, then we will not do the work that needs to be done. Success will then elude us. Get Better. Together.